


Charming the Snake Charmer

by orphan_account



Series: Tsukishima Rare Pairs [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Circus, First Meetings, Kissing, M/M, One Shot, Stand Alone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-21 08:27:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11353662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Tsukishima gets convinced by his best friend, Yamaguchi, to attend a traveling circus with him, where he later gets volunteered to assist the cute snake charmer.





	Charming the Snake Charmer

**Author's Note:**

> A Tsukkishou circus au fic that nobody asked for.
> 
>  
> 
> [My Tumblr](http://www.tettsuroo.tumblr.com/)

“I can’t believe you actually dragged me to going to something like this.” Tsukishima almost laughed, crossing his arms in a lazy manner as he sat down in his chair, giving a vague smirk to his long time best friend, Yamaguchi, as he sat next to him. He really needed to stop letting him drag him out from place to place so much.

“Really? But a place like this is so cool, Tsukki. They don’t come to town very often, and haven’t you always wanted to go to one? They have animals, you know?” He smiled at him, an almost innocent smile as they waited for the show to start. The place they were at right now was one of the last places he thought he would ever be on a Friday night, at a circus.

It was called the ‘Owls, Snakes, and Cats traveling circus’. Apparently, it was called that because all of the performers had some kind of affiliation with one of those animals, well, that and because there were actually cats, owls, and snakes that were a part of something like this. The flyer Yamaguchi showed had a lion on the front of the page, along with an owl and a snake, they saw it on their way home from working at a coffee shop together. Yamaguchi always did get excited about things like this. Well, Tsukishima couldn’t get too mad at him, this was still better than a movie, but his quiet night of reading was pretty much thrown out the window now.

It didn’t seem to be overly crowded, with the two of them sitting in the front row, Yamaguchi’s idea, of course. As he looked around, Tsukishima didn’t see a huge array of other people, a few people sitting in the rows behind them, all chatting and talking about how excited they were. If this place was supposed to be considered a higher class circus, he was expecting more people to actually be here. Then again, who really does go to circuses anymore? Especially ones without clowns.

“I wonder if any of the performers are cute?” Yamaguchi smiled again, his voice seemed almost too cheerful right now as Tsukishima pulled his phone out of his pocket to check the time. It was 7:55, they had five minutes until this thing was supposed to start.

“Is all you think about is how cute people are?” Tsukishima almost laughed, it seemed like Yamaguchi never changed. They were both in college and Yamaguchi still tried to hook him up dates from time to time.

“I’m sorry, Tsukki.” Yamaguchi smirked, and Tsukishima could tell that he definitely was not sorry. “But you don’t get out very much, and don’t you think you should go on dates more? I’ve known you since we were both little kids, and all throughout high school and college you haven’t really been with anyone, you know?”

He knew his best friend was only trying to be helpful, but Tsukishima couldn’t help but scowl in response. What was he, his mother? Tsukishima didn’t have a boyfriend, he hadn’t had one in years, but he didn’t need one. He was fine the way he was, it’s not like any kind of circus performers had any appeal anyway. Plus, dating someone who works in the circus would be more trouble than it was worth.

“Well.” Tsukishima released his arms, letting them fall down to his lap. “I’m just thankful you didn’t bring _that_ annoying person with you to something like this.”

“You don’t like Oikawa?” Yamaguchi almost seemed heartbroken at the mere mention of his boyfriend, the one that Tsukishima never really could get along with because of how annoying he was.

Well, it wasn’t so much that he didn’t like him, but Tsukishima had never really been fond of the _grand king_ as they called him. Out of all the people his best friend had to fall for, it was someone with a super annoying and super flashy personality. It was bad enough that the three of them all shared an apartment together, but seeing a guy like that on the weekends was a little bit too much for him to bare. Though, since he was Yamaguchi’s boyfriend, Tsukishima was still forced to tolerate him.

“It’s not that I don’t like him, it’s just that he’s always gotten on my nerves.”

“Hm. Well, he is a lot to take sometimes. But he hates places like this, outside of dogs and cats, he’s not really too fond of animals. He especially hates spiders and snakes. Oh, speaking of which, I heard the snake charmer for this is actually really cute.”

“Is that so?” Tsukishima tried to humor him as they waited for the show to start, but even he knew the lack of enthusiasm in his voice wasn’t fooling anyone. Even if Tsukishima had always been the type of person who was fond of animals, especially reptiles, he wasn’t into being charmed by anyone right now.

The lights came down low and several spot lights filled the center of the circular arena, and Tsukishima felt slightly relieved that Yamaguchi and him didn’t have to carry on this conversation anymore. He hated always feeling like his best friend was trying to set him up with everyone. He cared for Yamaguchi a lot, but he could find someone on his own time when he was ready, he didn’t need all this. Well, it was no use complaining now, they were already here after all.

A handful of people filled the center of the ring, the floor to it looked pure white, from the lights. The black, red, and white stripes going around the ring seemed to almost glow, adding to the atmosphere as everyone around them remained quiet.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you all for attending this evening, we are the incredible Owls, Snakes, and Cats Travelling circus, I am Bokuto, I will be your ring leader this evening. We have a great show in store for you tonight…” The person went on to express what felt like a monologue that went on for several minutes, as various lights slowly turned on around the room, showing off the various others acts for tonight. All their outfits seemed to be very flashy and eccentric, if that was any indication, it was going to be a long night.

Bokuto was the first one Tsukishima noticed, and how could he not? He had black and white hair sticking up in two spikes, with an owl perched on his shoulder, it was hard to tell which hair color was his natural color, or if they both were. His voice was loud as he yelled and his outfit was more out there than Tsukishima could have imagined.

The jacket was a mixture of black and white, with a yellow striped shirt underneath it, with white pants and black gloves. He also had a single black diamond painted over one of his eyes. The term theatrical came to mind as Tsukishima looked at him, but that was probably an understatement. As he looked around at the all the other people standing under the spot lights, they all seemed to have that same aura around them. In a way, it almost felt intimidating.

Bokuto went on introducing everyone, saying their name and what it is they would be doing. Out of curiosity, Tsukishima wanted to keep his eyes out for this snake charmer Yamaguchi was going on about a few minutes ago. Maybe Tsukishima was just curious about what kind of life leads a person to want to join a circus, or maybe he was just that bored. Even if he wasn’t really into dating right now, he could still look at potentially what would be an attractive person.

His eyes drifted over the spot lights as Bokuto introduced them all. First was the lion tamer, a shorter person that he introduced as Yaku, he was wearing what almost looked like a traditional suit, expect instead of the main part of it being black, it was red. An odd choice, but this was a circus after all, it would be more of a surprise if they were wearing normal clothes.

After that there were the traipse artists, Lev and Konoha, who both had matching red and white pantsuits as they waved to the crowd from above, where the traipses were. There were a few other people too, a juggler, a tight rope walker, a knife thrower, and someone who rode a tiger through a ring of fire, but everything seemed to stop when they introduced the snake charmer.

He was this taller guy with perfectly combed over hair, it seemed to be slick and soft, and he appeared to have a sly grin on his face to match. There was a snake wrapped around his shoulder, a yellow python with white spots, and his outfit was probably just as eccentric as the ring leaders. He had white pants, black boots, and the shirt was more like a vest, with a white and green diamond pattern running down it, and the center of the vest was opened, showing off his chest.

“Okay, maybe the snake charmer is cute.” Tsukishima mumbled to himself as he looked at him, for a moment it felt like their eyes locked, but he was sure it was all just his imagination.

“See? I told you. Just look at his muscles, he could-“ Yamaguchi almost laughed, and Tsukishima decided to cut him off before he said something totally cringy.

“You’re the one with the boyfriend, remember?” Tsukishima smirked, Yamaguchi did always have a way of being a flirt, or more so, drooling over all of the attractive men who he knew were unattainable. It was a problem, really. But still, he couldn’t blame his best friend for this one, he would give him some credit, this snake charmer, Daishou, he believed his name was, was gorgeous.

“Okay, for our next act we’re gonna need a volunteer from the audience, any takers?” Bokuto smiled and a dim spot light started to skim over the people in the audience.

It was almost a nerve-racking feeling as Tsukishima felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach. This was just like in school when the teacher would randomly call on someone to answer a question they didn’t know the answer to. well, it was just to volunteer, it wasn’t like Tsukishima had any plans of-

“He wants to do it!” Yamaguchi yelled, there were no doubt everyone in the entire room heard him as he reached down and grabbed Tsukishima’s arm, holding it high as if he was raising his hand for him.

“Yama-“ Tsukishima couldn’t even form words right now, and the flustered look on his face no doubt told that to everyone in the room. What did his best friend just do? He couldn’t be serious right now, could he?

“Is that so? Well then, come on down here you, tall guy with the blond hair, glasses, and sour look on your face.” The spotlight stopped right on Tsukishima, and he knew better than to try to weasel his way out of something like this now. These people didn’t seem like the kind that would let someone shy away right now.

“You owe me one.” He turned to Yamaguchi, an almost annoyed tone in his voice.

He knew exactly what his best friend was doing though, he went on and on earlier about how Tsukishima could get out more and see more people, romantically. Whether this was an act to try to hook him up with the snake charmer or just for him to have a unique experience, it was hard to say, but Tsukishima wasn’t really in the mood for any of this right now. He should have stayed home.

Tsukishima made his way down the short walk of the stairs, an annoyed look on his face as he tried to remain calm. He could feel all of the eyes on him, not just from everyone in the audience, but from the circus members too, it was like they were judging him. He could almost feel his skin crawling and he did his best to not make direct eye contact with any of the them as Bokuto lifted up the gate and let Tsukishima into the ring.

“Come now, don’t be shy, nobodies died from doing this.” He laughed, and it seemed like everyone in the audience laughed along with him.

However, Tsukishima wasn’t laughing as he seemed to guide him over to where Daishou was standing, he caught a smirk on his face as they looked in each others direction for a minute.

“Now then, everyone, Daishou here is going to get this young man set up while I explain to the audience what is going to happen…” Bokuto went on, like a true showman, you could just tell that he loved the energy from the crowd, a smile on his face as his owl flew around the room a bit, getting the attention back on him as Tsukishima was forced to look at Daishou.

“Is this your first time?” He asked, it almost sounded like he was mocking him. Tsukishima may have been taller than him, but that didn’t stop him from feeling like the one who was intimidated.

The snake that was around Daishou’s shoulder changed, with him reaching over and placing it down on the floor. Tsukishima hadn’t noticed until now that there was a pile of them all gathering around, like the two of them were standing in a pit of snakes. Well, Tsukishima was more fond of them than he cared to admit, so he didn’t have a problem, but it felt hot in here for some reason. Was it just the temperature, or was it something else?

He watched as Daishou pulled out a green snake with black stripes and hung it around his shoulder, this one seemed to be more energetic than the last, with him extending his head and sticking out his tongue, it was like it was almost saying hello to Tsukishima.

“This is Kuroo, he’s my favorite, he’s a little feisty but he won’t do anything to ya’.” Daishou smiled, it was like he was teasing him as he reached over and placed the snake around Tsukishima’s neck. It was hard to describe how he felt right now, distracted seemed to be a nice way to put it. What was even happening here?

It wasn’t Tsukishima’s first time dealing with snakes, he actually was studying right now to work more with animals, mainly reptiles, so in a way, he felt like he could almost understand Daishou as a snake charmer. He was gentle, at least, he was gentle when it came to how he was holding and taking care of the snakes. Tsukishima couldn’t even believe he was thinking about something like this right now, but his eyes seemed almost appealing as they looked at him, and what was this feeling in the pit of his stomach? It had to totally be in his head.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Kuroo slithering around his neck, his long tongue and his tail felt like they were almost tickling him, and Tsukishima found it even that much harder to concentrate. Daishou had a certain beauty with the way that he tilted his head and bat his long eye lashes. He was cute, but there was more to him than that.

“Okay, so what’s gonna happen is you’re gonna stand over there by that target.” Daishou pointed to the black and red painted target that was mounted onto the wall on the far right, you could see that there were several indents in it, probably from knife throwing’s if Tsukishima had to guess. “And our knife thrower, Kenma, is going to throw them at you. Kuroo here is going to catch them.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Tsukishima felt like he had only been half paying attention right now, maybe it was just from how distracted he was, with being up here and having people watch him, but the second he heard the words ‘knife throwing’s’ he came back into reality. What was it that they wanted him to do?

It may have just been from the bright spot lights or from all f the people now watching him, but Tsukishima could feel his temperature start to heat up as some sweat started t form on his forehead. Surely he was joking,

“You’ll be fine, everyone acts like this at first, Kuroo knows what he’s doing, actually, I think he’s taking a liking to you.” Daishou laughed, it was clear to Tsukishima that he was trying to put him at ease. It was clear now that he wasn’t joking.

Despite this being the first time Tsukishima had even been to a circus, this was also the first time he had volunteered for something like this, even in school he was always kind of lax when it came to doing anything that put himself out there. He always did the minimum amount of work that was necessary to get a passing grade, that was it. Volunteering or doing anything that would put any kind of attention on him was something that he would never think of doing, it was almost strange, and with the way Daishou was looking at him right now, he had this slight smirk on his face, it was like he was provoking him, it made Tsukishima want to do something about it. Maybe it was time for him to do something bold for once.

“You think so?” He tried to fake some sort of confidence in his voice, he had a lot on his mind right now, not just about the whole he’s supposed to just stand there while someone throws knives at him thing, but the look Daishou was giving him was almost seductive, his eyes half lidded as he seemed to be observing him. What was he thinking right now?

“Yeah, totally.” Daishou smiled, escorting Tsukishima over to the target as Bokuto still went on and on. “Kuroo seems to like you, he’s a good judge of character, you know? Hey, what’s your name?” Daishou seemed to change the subject almost instantly. Grinning as he leaned forward. Tsukishima was slouching right now as he stood against the target, making Daishou appear taller than him. He had a provoking look in his eyes, a provoking look that made Tsukishima want to answer him right away.

“Why do you want to know?” Was this referred to as playing hard to get? Tsukishima wasn’t so sure anymore. Sure, Daishou was attractive, but that didn’t mean he should just go out giving personal information about himself out, for all he knew, Daishou was just s stage name of sorts.

“No reason in particular, you’re cute, and you like snakes, I thought the two of us might have a lot in common, that’s all. Hey, I have an idea, how about after the show tonight you come back to my tent, it’s a little ways away from here, there’s something I want to ask you.” It was hard to tell how serious he was being right now, Daishou had a glint in his eyes as he was looking at Tsukishima, like even his eyes were smirking.

Depending on how you take something like this, it could be taken multiple ways. Did he seriously just want to have a conversation with him, or was this some kind of shady sex offer? People in the circus don’t exactly seem like the most organized people, outside of the initial thrill of volunteering for something like this, this sort of thing would be sending up all kinds of red flags.

But still, Tsukishima couldn’t say that he didn’t like the offer. Maybe he was just taking all of the things Yamaguchi said into consideration, but Tsukishima knew that he didn’t take enough risks, he didn’t get out enough, and what’s wrong with doing something impulsive, with doing something without thinking? What is the worst that can happen?

With that in mind, Tsukishima resist the urge to smile at him. “Tsukishima. Tsukishima Kei.”

 

 

 

“Daishou?” Once again, Tsukishima had no idea what he was doing, this was probably crazy, so crazy in fact that he didn’t even tell Yamaguchi about it.

He followed Daishou’s instructions of where to meet him after the show, which was just as spectacular as you could imagine, somehow Tsukishima was still alive from that little stunt with the knife thrower. How someone can even teach a snake how to catch knives with their tail he would never know, but Tsukishima wasn’t here to question how much free time people need to have on their hands to find out something like this. If he wanted to put himself in some sort of death defying stunt again, he could just read about it in a book, he had filled up his thrill quota for the day as far as he was concerned.

He told Yamaguchi that he had left his phone behind when he was doing that little stunt, and that he needed to take to one of the members after the show to get it. It was technically a lie, but he told him not to wait up for him so he didn’t feel that bad about it.

Behind the tent that housed where the main event was there were smaller tents all gathered around, almost like they were camping, where all of the members drank and celebrated a successful show. Tsukishima had already passed the ring leader, Bokuto, on his way here, he was drinking with one of the other members, a member of the crew with a serious expression on his face, he didn’t seem to be saying much but they both gave Tsukishima an almost alarming look as they walked by him.

Was he not supposed to be here? Or was that look just because they already knew what was going on. He didn’t know very much about Daishou, just his name, his relative age, and that he was a snake charmer, for all he knew, he could just be asking him to meet him here just to do sexual things with him. It probably did get lonely working for a circus and having to tour around a lot. He figured Daishou probably didn’t have a girlfriend or a boyfriend for that matter. Why was he doing this again?

Well, he was doing it just for the sake of doing it, he had never something so impulsive like this before, so he thought ‘why not’? If things get too dangerous he could always leave. Tsukishima was over six feet tall and could take care of himself, it’s not like these circus people were into anything other than sex and drinking. Tsukishima didn’t really think he had anything to fear as far as he was concerned.

He stopped at a tent that was so obvious it was the right place, it was huge and bright green, with a black snake emblem on the outside. Well, this made it easy for people to find, and Tsukishima didn’t hesitate to lift the curtain open and walk into it, not entirely sure of what he was expected to find.

“Tsukki!” Daishou spoke calmly, a pleased look on his face as he laid lounging around the big green bed in the middle of the tent. “I’ve been waiting for you, what did you think of tonight’s show? Come, make yourself at home.” Daishou pat the edge of the bed and Tsukishima felt himself become forced to comply as he sat down next to him. Why were they suddenly talking like they knew each other so well?

“It was good.” He shrugged, feeling the awkwardness in his voice as he tried to even recall what happened after the bit with the knife thrower. Well, in a way it was all the same, he still couldn’t believe Yamaguchi actually talked him into doing something like this.

About thirty minutes had passed since the show ended, and it looked like Daishou had changed out of the green and white diamond get up he was in before, now wearing something that seemed to resemble a robe with gold trim. It had various red and green speckles all around it, with the chest opened, revealing a lot more of his abs than before.

Tsukishima forced himself to look around the room, it was small, as expected, there really wasn’t any way for a tent to feel like the equivalent of a bedroom, but it still seemed cozy.

His bed was right in the middle of it all, almost a perfect circle covered in green sheets and pillows, there were a few lamps, a dresser, and a chest in the room too, all with that same cold trim around them. It almost seemed gaudy, but Tsukishima couldn’t really complain, he had seen messier rooms before. Of course, he didn’t account for all the snakes roaming around, slithering on a floor and in a nearby cage. He didn’t mind them, but he couldn’t help but imagine how uncomfortable it must be for them.

“Just good?” Daishou asked, prying as he stretched himself out, he was just like a snake with a playful look in his eyes. “You seemed pretty into it back there, you know? With the whole volunteering thing, I mean.”

“My friend volunteered me.” Tsukishima smirked, he wasn’t sure why but he felt like opening up to Daishou right now, maybe it was just the kind of effect he had on him. It was like he was provoking him, provoking him into saying just what he wanted to hear. “This was the first time I’ve even been to a circus.” He didn’t mean anything by it, it was just a comment, but it only took Tsukishima a second to realize the window of provocation that he just opened.

“Oh, is that so? Well if that’s the case, Tsukki, I’m happy to be the one to take your _first time_.”

“Can you not word it like that? Also, can you not call me ‘Tsukki’ why did you ask me to come here anyways?”

He didn’t catch it the first time, but Tsukishima wasn’t really fond of people calling him ‘Tsukki’, Yamaguchi was an exception of course, the two of them had been friends since childhood, and that name was just sort of a habit he just developed. However, hearing that name being uttered by someone who was pretty much a stranger, didn’t quite have the same effect.

It had a different effect, every time someone else would call him that it was pretty much obvious that Tsukishima would get pissed off because of it, but not with Daishou. In a way, it seemed to have the opposite effect, like he liked the sound of it, and that little smirk he made when he said it. He had hardly known this guy for less than a few hours, but he already felt like he knew him so well, it was like the two of them shared some sort of bond or connection. He felt things when he was around him, things he had never felt before.

Maybe he was just crazy, or there was just something wrong with his brain, because even if you considered this ‘love at first sight’ it was still crazy, but Tsukishima seemed to like the way Kuroo was looking at him right now.

“Hm. No reason.” Daishou hummed, almost pondering again as he finally answered his question, Tsukishima found that it was so hard to read him.

“No reason at all?” He raised an eyebrow at him, maybe Daishou was just as crazy as he was. “You just invited a stranger into your tent for no reason?”

“Well, you’re kind of cute, a guy can get lonely.” He reached one of his hands forward, placing it on top of Tsukishima’s, he could feel his skin heat up from just the touch. “Plus, we’re recruiting right now.”

“Recruiting?”

“Yeah, each year more and more people are leaving us, we need more people to at least help out if we’re going to stay up and running.”

“And you’re trying to recruit me, is that it?”

“Well, Kuroo likes you, he’s a good judge of character, and I like you too. I think you would be good at this sort of thing.” He smiled, leaning forward to where their faces were only a few inches apart. Tsukishima could feel Daishou moving his fingers up and tickling the underside of his skin, it was like he was seducing him, but he didn’t seem to mind that. This was a terrible idea.

“Are you trying to charm me like you charm your snakes?” Tsukishima couldn’t resist the urge to be snarky right now, a condescending smirk spreading on his face.

“Hm.” Daishou returned him, a similar look on his face, it was like they were having a competition to see who could be more condescending. “The way I see it, you’re the one who charmed me. So, what do you say, wanna join me for a little while?”

Tsukishima pondered for a moment, it didn’t take a genius to realize this was a terrible idea, but it could be sort of fun. Tsukishima had never done anything like this before, so why not?

He leaned forward, already deciding on his answer and pressing his lips to his, it was a soft and subtle kiss, but he knew it was going to lead to something more. “Sounds like fun.”

**Author's Note:**

> Whelp, this story was actually fun to write, I got the idea to write a short one shot last night about Tsukki going to a circus and getting charmed by the snake charmer. I was originally going to make this a KuroTsukki fic, but as I started writing it I decided that if fit better to turn it into a Tsukkishou fic instead, because I've been itching to write them recently, haha.
> 
> This story probably isn't the best, I wrote it kind of impulsively throughout the day today, I don't know, I always struggle with writing one shots for some reason, I always wonder if there's more I should do with them. But, I still hope you guys enjoyed it even if it was just a little bit. I've never written Tsukkishou before so I hope I did them justice. I feel like they would be the kind of couple that tries to out snark each other, while also being grossly cute and grossing out their friends. I may also try to write more of them in the future.


End file.
